Blog Evolution: Change Or Die

There has been one thing that has been going through my mind recently and more so last night. Every blogger evolves one way or another. That’s what the blogosphere is about. Evolution. I mean, you take the example of the three generations of bloggers here, it’s hard to say that one or any particular blog can be successful over a long period of time without some form of change.

More so when you belong to the third generation of bloggers.

So where does the success lie? How does any blogger carve themselves a proper niche in their little part of the blogosphere? It goes back to what I said in the beginning – evolution. We all already know that our blogs are a reflection of self. Does that mean that like yourself, you won’t choose to change and grow along with the rest of the world?

A vast majority of bloggers, myself included crave the blogging drug known as hits and on a lesser extent, another drug known as comments. But despite what we say, do or deny, hits and comments are not the kind of thing we should be evolving towards. You take the slice of the Malaysian Blogosphere for instance, there is a vast majority blogs out there set on emmulating the so called “elite” bloggers that been the focal point of Malaysian blogosphere gossip for quite a while.

Their form of blogging style is set to capture upon popularity of the “elite” blogs, kinda like how you got popular in school because you look like Elvis so many years ago. These “write-alike” blogs, the readers or the blogger any good. They just pile up into one corner and stagnate in form as the blogging world passes them by and they wait for the next big thing to hit so that they can copy. It’s as bad as the copy and paste blogs people condemn.

No, hits and comments was never the answer to making any ones blog successful because while we may get the hits because we are likened to a style that works, but the success of a blog is in keeping the readers that read what you write. “Write-alike” blogs hardly do this at all.

That’s where evolving comes in.

So for the next 2 weeks, I’m going to focus on just that and see whether it all works out. I’m going to try (my very best) to focus on the things that I need to do to make sure my blog has carved its place in the blogosphere. What those things are that need to be, I’ll write down as I go, work on it as I write. Think of it as my own personal 31 Days To Building A Better Blog project compressed into a space of 2 weeks.

Of course, I still have my assignments to finish, so expect the first couple of days to me more or less distracted. I could say I’ll start next week when my assignments are over, but then that’ll just be procastinating. I’ll figure something out. You know I always have.

Also if any of you would like to help out or join me in working on your style of writing, content or even your layout, why not? A refreshing change is always welcomed and the more involved the merrier. No sense in saying you want to do something to your blog then procastinate because you always felt stupid or scared that you’d lose your current readers.

Just remember, evolving doesn’t change who you are. It just makes you more approachable to the people who want to get to know you for who you are. In blogging terms…that’s a good thing.

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7 thoughts on “Blog Evolution: Change Or Die”

My blog’s been up for a year and a half now, but I still have no idea how it’s managed to survive so long… BTW, YOUR blog is useful because it tells me that I’m doing everything wrong… haha. But it’s also very healpful. keep it up! 🙂

Good article. Because a person’s blog need to evolve or mature, they slowly find their actual niche and content. However, not everyone can be said the same because there are some who choose to blog on a more personal journal type line.

This article actually leads back to the discussion out there questioning if blogs are really a personal journal. With a clear sight of some Malaysians already planning to become probloggers and everyone plans to jump on the bandwagon, blogging might not be just a personal journal anymore.

Well, I just hope my portfolio/blog will evolve for the better in future. 🙂

awesome post I must say…got me thinking alot…and I’ll proabably still do some serious thinking over the next few days… for me I see running a blog like running an organization, just like how an organization evolves through 4 major stages, so do blogs…the thing is as you said ed, most people try to emulate the “elites” they forget whey even started blogging in the first place, they have no strategy for their blog as a result, they end up writing crap which they hope would attention.

I wouldnt mind joining you in your quest to build a better blog, I think that’s the best way to actually improve…and plus school doesnt start until thursday…so I can take it easy I guess 😉